Winter School R 4 aRchaeologists

In Humanities, the exponential increase in digital documentation requires us to question its management, its use, its availability to the scientific community and its sustainability. In archaeology, these issues are even more crucial because they relate to non-reproducible primary data. In order to effectively retrieve, store, manage, prepare for analysis, and communicate the information and the scientific range of such amount of data, modern archaeologists should be able to deal with concepts and tools related to new technologies. Such digital competencies are not present in a standard archaeology background, though they are fundamental to effectively interact with ICT experts.

The “R 4 aRchaeologists” Winter School aims for a fruitful combination of archaeology and statistics through the teaching of Data analysis, Data mining, and Data visualization techniques. It is conducted through R, programming language and free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. The large amount of data that are produced through archaeological work show a wide degree of heterogeneity, complexity, and interconnection, making the use of algorithmic methods unavoidable. R is one of the main programming languages of Data Science and includes a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques: linear and nonlinear modelling, statistical tests, spatial statistics, time-series analysis, classiffication, clustering, and others.

The Winter School will last 60 hours and will take place from January 22th to February 2nd, 2024, at the Department of Civilisations and Forms of Knowledge of the University of Pisa, Italy.

Bibliography:

• David R. Carlson, Quantitative methods in archaeology using R, Cambridge University Press (June 26, 2017)
• Nakoinz O. & Knitter D., Modelling Human Behaviour in Landscapes, Springer (2016)

The program will be activated also in distance learning mode (TEAMS platform).

Aim

The Winter School “R 4 aRcheologists” will enable participants to conduct statistical analysis and visualization of Archaeological data.

It is built around a new paradigm, which takes into consideration archaeologists as both producers and users of digital archaeological data.

Attendees will learn the concepts and methods of univariate and multivariate analysis, spatial analysis, and data visualisation through an integrated use of R ecosystem software packages, statistical and practical principles.

Founded in 1343, the University of Pisa is one of the most prestigious universities in Italy. Famous alumni of the University include Galileo Galilei, 3 Nobel prize winners, and 2 Fields medalists. It is amongst the top 3 universities in Italy (ARWU) . Nowadays the University of Pisa represents a prestigious modern center for teaching and advanced research.

Pisa offers international students the unique opportunity to study and experience the richness of Italian history and culture in a beautiful and stimulating environment. Famous across the world for the Leaning Tower, almost all of its departments are located in the heart of the city. Its strategic geographical location, the international airport, and excellent rail connections offer the possibility of weekend trips to other parts of Italy and Europe.

The Foundation Course is a one-year program taught exclusively in English, which bridges the gap between High School and University studies and it equips students with the appropriate academic grounding for an Italian degree at the University of Pisa. This program is aimed at international students who have 11 or 10 years of schooling and have successfully completed High School and at American students who have not taken Advanced Placement (AP) courses during the last year of High School nor have attended 2 years of College.

Summer Schools are intensive academic courses for international students and also for graduates. They mostly last from 4 days to 6 weeks and take place in an international context, with students and lecturers coming from various parts of the world and all lectures delivered in English. They are characterized by nonconventional teaching formats (workshops, tutorials, excursions, cultural events, business testimonials, etc.) and a multidisciplinary approach. Professors are experts in their areas and have a keen interest in what they do. Summer Schools meet strict academic regulations: each one grants at least 3 ECTS credits and the participants who successfully pass the final exams will receive an official academic transcript.

Contacts:

Università di Pisa Palazzo Modica - Piazza Torricelli, 4 - 56126 Pisa (PI) Italy Information about Foundation Course: studyabroad@unipi.it Information about Summer Schools: support.summerschool@unipi.it